Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Document Notes
The power of storytelling and how a story can be changed over time to suit the storyteller’s needs and politics and messaging. Nothing is sacred or truly true and sacrosanct.
Highlights
id559374108
The earliest known stories contain no record of him robbing the rich and giving over the plunder to peasants, but they do make mention of him being a “good” outlaw who helped poor men.
id559370472
Why is it more appealing, more comfortable, more exciting to imagine Robin Hood as a rich fellow who forgoes his wealth to fight against a corrupt system? Why are we taken in and placated by a nobleman of charity and occasional good humor?
✏️ A vital question to ask, and to consider the propaganda messaging it’s trying to espouse. 🔗 View Highlight
id559370477
our fictional halls of fame are lousy with this figure, this exact prototype. Think carefully and you will recognize him well: He is Batman. He is the Scarlet Pimpernel. He is Tony Stark. He is literally Green Arrow because that character was very obviously based on Robin Hood. Modern fiction wants us, needs us, to believe that this hero exists. And what’s more, we are not meant to merely tolerate this figure—we are supposed to love him. To demand more of him. To feel safer because he exists. Which is ironic, given the unconscionable imbalance in the distribution of wealth and resources that we see today, and the incalculable greed of those who are lucky enough to have it.
✏️ The character type of Robin Hood across pop culture 🔗 View Highlight
id559372212
Because the truth is far more painful to reckon with. There are a few figures of incredible means who go out of their way to provide for everyone else.